A Song of Ice and Fire Rpg Character Sheet Form

Be prepared, my list is going to be very unorthodox:10) Joffrey BaratheonI told you this isn’t your average list! But still, Joffrey was an amazing villain who I didn’t realise I loved to watch until seasons after his death. I kind of miss the little shit, he always knew how to spice things up in King’s Landing.9) Tyrion LannisterI know what you’re thinking - why so low? Tyrion was alwaye one of my favs but he loses points for not doing much since he left King’s Landing. I like Tyrion because of his wordly intelligence, something which very few characters have to offer in the series. I’m hoping to see better things from by the ending because I know he’s capable of much more than he’s achieved.8) Margaery TyrellAh, Margaery. The Lady who seduced a thousand hearts, includig Joffrey might I say. Margaery is one of those characters whom everyone overlooks because she’s so subtle in her manipulation, something which works to her advantage. Even until the very end, she fooled everyone into believing her and would have secured her place as Queen if only she wasn’t matched with Cersei who doesn’t play by the rules. And speaking of Cersei…7) Cersei LannisterOh the Wicked Witch of the West. Cersei is a woman who doesn’t understand love: she loves Jaime and her children only as extensions of herself. In some ways, her relationship with Jaime is telling of the fact that she wants to be him, the perfect child of their father. This is what makes her so interesting because her weaknesses in station force her to act in ruthlessness and paranoia in order to survive and climb the social ladder.6) Sansa StarkThis is definitely my most unusual as most people hate/dislike her or at least would never place her so high, above even Tyrion and Cersei. But Sansa is definitely my favourite female character. I’m a sucker for characters eho experience a journey, whose arcs are fleshed out and they become completely different people than they started out because of their experiences. Sansa’s is a clear coming-of-age story, except she has suffered a lot more than any growing pains most teenagers would know. I have hope for her political career and the more she resembles a kinder Cersei and a wiser Catelyn, the more I am engaged with her storyline.5) LittlefingerNow, this is a man who knows how to play the game. It’s hard to root for a man who does such dastardly things seemingly in favour of chaos, but Littlefinger’s story as a man from nothing who rose in ranks through his own skill and intelligence is a story to be praised. His dynamic with Catelyn and by extension Sansa is one of my favourite explorations of desire in the show. I know he will have a much fitter end in the books, one hopefully involving his long-time rival Varys.4) The HoundMy sweet and loving Sandor, or as I like to call him, Sir Swears-alot. The Hound’s backstory is in my opinion the best in the series and reveals a sympathetic kindness in the Hound that is fully exposed in his relationships with the Stark girls. I eagerly await their reunions!3) Tywin LannisterThe real Daddy of Westeros. OK, Tywin wasn’t the best father but he was the best leader of any House, always putting the Lannisters first and establishing a dynasty with every move he made. Seriously, this man was Machiavelli, a political mastermind in a land where dumb kings like Robert and Joffrey are the ones who seemingly hold the power. His death actually broke my heart: even though I felt Tyrion’s disgust, anger and shame, I was sad to see such a great character go.2) Stannis BaratheonStannis the Mannis, the One True King! Stannis is so underrated and that’s because the show fucked him up. He, much like the Hound, had such a good backstory that really made you feel for him because he just couldn’t ever catch a break. And still, he lived and ruled with honour, always putting his duty first and becoming the only king to recognise the threat beyond the wall and actually strive to do something about it. Great character, just great.1) Jaime LannisterI know you were expecting Jon or Daenerys but no, Jaime is my number one. As with Sansa, I love characters who transform throughout the story, whose experiences have shaped them in ways that change your perception of them. Jaime started as the douche of Westeros, transformed into a sympathetic and troubled man, and will end a tragic hero, conflicted between his honour and his loyalty to House Lannister. He truly is an amazing example of the power of perception that Martin has exposed and how truth is never as easy to expose as it sometimes may seem. I’m interested to see Daenerys and Jon interacting with him closely, Dany because he killed her father and Jon because their arcs are in sort of a parallel as unlikely heroes.Notice how all the main Lannisters made the list? That says something about those characters that everyone loves them. Anyway, here are some honourable mentions that just missed the cut:11) Theon Greyjoy12) Melissandre13) Catelyn Tully14) Davos Seaworth15) Ned Stark16) Robb Stark17) Ygritte18) Varys19) Bronn20) Arya Stark21) Jon Snow22) Jorah Mormont23) Oberyn Martell

Spoilers, obviously.EDIT: The following answer was written after my first read of the entire series. Opinions mentioned here are no longer valid since I now realize that all characters from AGoT through ADwD have had interesting arcs with signNow character growth. Plus, historical anecdotes and elements of foreshadowing spice things up.To me, the overall nature of the book was sinusoidal- boring as hell at times and amazingly intriguing at other times. There are certain characters that are boring through certain chapters/books of the series. I've tried to accommodate all of them as follows:Book 1:Sansa: The fact that it's in her POV that we first realize what a douchebag Joffery really is doesn't help either.Daenerys: Until the dragons were born, it was pretty boring- though not so much as Sansa.Book 2:Sansa: Again. Still a believer in the songs and stories of knights in shining armors.Davos (Up until the Battle of Blackwater Bay): His introduction in the series was all too sudden and disorienting. To make mattters worse, his POV focused on Stannis at the end of Dragonstone, introducing new characters, branching the plot-lines further.Daenerys: The whole Qarth scenario was too uninspiring. With dragons at hand, you'd think she try and get an army to train till her dragons grew sufficiently large.Book 3:Sam: It was sad seeing him bullied throughout the previous book, must we suffer his incessant crying as well?Daenerys: Fine, I'll just let you do your thing. Take your time, no pressure.Ignoring these two POVs, this book was perhaps the best in the series so far.Book 4:Sansa actually turned out to be the most interesting character in this one. Aside from the Vale arc, I'm going to go ahead and say this whole book was boring even though it provided excellent support for future events. No Tyrion, no Jon, no Arya what did you expect? Instead, we have Cersei fucking (literally) people/things up at Kings Landing- inspiring schadenfreude, but not too persuasive.Book 5:I have no words for this. The only climactic parts started after about 500 pages from this 900 page book. Daenerys is still in Essos (I gave up on her back in Book 3.), her dragons are missing, even Tyrion's POV has nothing too concrete to keep me glued to the books.But then come the chain of events at The Wall and the return of Varys to King's Landing (I missed him) and now, things look like they're about to blow! I really hope the series comes back with a bang with book six- it's 13 years overdue.

Let us take each arc singularly and try to fit them into the complete story.Before I begin, I must say that I am but a novice and this is a hell of an intricate plot. And at many places you will find that I am just going to say outright that I know nothing, because I know nothing! 1. DAENERYSShe is clearly destined to be one of the end players, with so many of her prophecies still left, she is going to be in the end game. She is clearly the embodiment of fire. The prince who is promised, is as of now clearly her. With the red comet heralding her coming and her literally rising from the fire, nobody can contend as of now for Ahai better than her. (I am on the belief that Ahai and the prince who was promised is the same person). So she stays till the end, rides Drogon, and goes to Meerem and then meets Jon and Aegon, Victarion and the dark flame, and Tyrion. None of whom help her. And I think all of them will become her enemies. Even Tyrion. He will side with Ice. Let me come to that. So she is going to land sooner or later, completely ready and having remembered 'who she is'.2. JON SNOWWell as we know GRRM loves twists, so I think it is just understandable and in line with his writing that Dany wont be the prince. But rather everyone's best bet is Jon Snow. I am also favoring this. He will be saved, then he will be reborn as Ahai. And the lightbringer would be the Night's Watch. He will fight and win against the White walkers, with the help of Sam, somehow. Because I think Castle black will be gone, and the last stand will be at some place else.  The promised prince can be: Aegon, Jon, Dany, Jaime. (Yeah I believe that the twins are Targs, there are many signs. The biggest one being the incest. There is no reason why GRRM would think of giving the twins this 'characteristics', unless it meant something. So it is possible I am reading too much into this, but hell what are theories for :P )Jon would not have a clean ending I think. GRRM clearly loves the 'grotesques' . May it be Tyrion, Jon, Brienne. So I would guess that Jon plays till the end, but never does anything for the Kingdom but only for fighting the White Walkers!3. SANSA STARKShe is bound to kill Petyr, this is the only undoing of Petyr that I can see, and it has been stressed quite interestingly. Again it is GRRM's way of giving power into the hands of the weird. May it be Sansa who was the traditional maiden who should be the one rescued by prince in shining armor or Arya becomeing a f**king Assassin!The most likely thing that resonates with me is that she will be the younger queen who brings about the fall of Cersei. It cannot be the Tyrell queen because it is "the younger queen who will take away everything from you that you hold dearest."Sansa has inadvertently killed Joff, her most beloved son. So I think Sansa will continue on to be the younger queen and become the one who rules the King's Landing!4. BRIENNE AND JAIMEWell I think Jaime survives. Cannot be sure about Brienne, but she should to. I think in the fight that is gonna happen, Lady Stoneheart might die. My speculation for this is because she has not been given a role as of now in the TV series, so that might mean that her story arc is not important! Hence Jaime survives and maybe is the undoing of Cersei at the end, or not!But I still think there is some redemption left that Jaime has to undergo, for all the sins. Even though Karma has no place in Westeros!5.BRAN STARKWell he is not leaving that place. That is quite predictable, he will probably learn a lot more and do a lot of things from where he is! Coldhands, has an  important part left with Bran, and unfortunately he is shrouded in so many mysteries that I cannot even begin to fathom what can happen!What exactly he will do or find out cannot be said, but it is understandable that he will be the key source of unraveling the true past. (Unlike the tainted version from the Maesters that we know of, or the fabricaated one that we know from the singers and folk tales such as Nan's! )6. CERSEI LANNISTER.Well unfortunately her future is pretty much fixed. She is bound to die. Her children would to! She is destined to undo all the good deeds of Tywin Lannister (whatever one says he had almost wrought a momentary peace for the realm!)She is dead, but not in this trial. She will survive it, for after that only can she fall, because her children have to die before her! Sad, but that is how the prophecies go!Plus there is the interesting part of her being a targaryen according to me. The theory is that she and Jamie were children of the Mad King and not Tywin Lannister. Cersei and Jamie are Targaryens - General (ASoIaF)7. ARYA STARK.Well she becomes a faceless assassin, but of course!! She might die! Dunno, why but she just might!Her story is so flexible that I know nothing here! She is an end game player. Definitely going to kill a few of the names on her list. She will not be a dragon rider or anything like that but stilll she will become a full fledged assassin soon enough.8. RICKON STARK.Well he is saved and North rallies behind him. He becomes Warden of the North. There must be a Stark at Winterfell, that is true. He is the descendent of the First Men. So I think he is also representative of Ice. He has to live!9. STANNIS BARATHEONWell he is dead. I do not know how or when, but he is definitely dead. Maybe already (the pink letter-but I believe it is a farce), or maybe sooner or later. But he is bound to die. Then add to that throughout he is said to have the wrong fiery sword. He is a clear red-herring. And has nothing to back his claim of being Ahai. Well he might still fight the White Walkers, and he will do definitely something 'good' before dying, but die he must!10.AEGON 'TARGARYEN?"Seeing that his basic legitimacy is under such a criticism and that we cannot signNow a consensus on it, his predictions are gonna be difficult. But for some reason, I wanna believe in him. (Damn you GRRM, if you kill him now! )He will win a lot of victories and soon the Tyrell's will switch sides. It will be chaos. Maybe Marg dies because she is found guilty, maybe she is assasinated by Varys (that would definitely cause a huge huge rift). Whatever, Tyrell were Targ loyalists, if I am not very mistaken and will pretty certainly switch sides after the death of Tommen, either way. Maybe try to marry Marg to Aegon? But whatever, he wins a lot of wars, before winter strikes in full, and the White Walkers are in the full fledged power!So, he is also definitely a key player. With him having the features (Silver hair and Purple Eyes), I think he is atleast the blood of the dragons! So he just might become one of the three heads! CONCLUSION:The three heads are according to me: Dany, Jon and Aegon! Jaime just seems unlikely even though he is of that line! Jon should go against Dany or may not go. It is difficult to say (I want him to go against). Whether it is a fight between Ice and Fire or it is the harmony(song) of Ice and Fire, and hence the perfect balance that would be brought when the two mix. The fact is that Ice and Fire just represent the Duality in this world, and hence it can be interpreted in many ways!!! And the White Walkers need not be evil, maybe there will be some renewed pact, which somehow was broken by the people in the past, which caused them to fight. I think it is very probable that neither of them (White Walkers or humans) are completely annihilated at the end, because again that is the essence of this series-a balance in this world!Plus I suppose the greenseers are somehow more than they appear! There is the horn of joramun, which might wake the greenseers. So little is known about this that it is impossible to predict it.   Shit this series is awesome!P.S. I would like to add some more characters as and when I am able to think of them!

I see that nobody mentioned The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson.The first book is The Way of KingsEDIT: The second book, Words of Radiance, is out as well.EDIT 2: The third book, Oathbringer, is out too!I had just finished with A Dance with Dragons, and, knew full well that the Winds of Winter won't be coming out at least for 3 more years. Arghh!So, I started exploring a bit and somehow, I began with this book.One of the things you'll notice is that the book captivates you from the very start. I have read quite a few fantasy books and found this to be quite different from all other - and isn't that what makes the fantasy genre so enjoyable?The land is called Roshar. It is a land that is completely dominated by highstorms - something along the lines of hurricanes. Because storms are such a dominant force in Roshar, the religion is also based after storms. The economy is also largely driven by the storms.The land is completely different. Here are some sketches from the book:And here's something called a Shardplate - which is a really badass armour.Just to give you some more insights, The story begins with a badass assassin who kills the king of a country. The events that take place move forward from there. But they also go back thousands of years too.One of the first characters you'll meet, Kaladin, isn't your average farm boy (as he would be in many other fantasy books). He is a commander of a military unit. He can fight - fight better than most and is dubbed Kaladin Stormblessed. Isn't that name really cool? :DI can go on and give you a complete review - but you can always get that on Goodreads anyway. But, what I'd like to emphasize is that this book is different.Read it. You'll thank me :)The only downside is that the next book hasn't been released yet. The release is expected to be in late 2013 - which isn't at all far.

At the start of the story, about 298 AL, here are the approximate (read: best guess, not exact) ages of the main characters.Tywin Lannister: 56 years oldRobert Baratheon: 36 years oldNed Stark: 35 years oldCatelyn Stark: 34 years oldStannis Baratheon: 34 years oldCersei Lannister: 32 years oldJaime Lannister: 32 years oldTyrion Lannister: 25 years oldViserys Targaryen: 22 years oldRenly Baratheon: 21 years oldTheon Greyjoy: 19 years oldBrienne of Tarth: 18 years oldRobb Stark: 14 years oldJon Snow: 14 years oldDaenerys Targaryen: 13 years oldSansa Stark: 11 years oldArya Stark: 9 years oldBran Stark: 7 years oldRickon Stark: 3 years old

Let’s discuss a few characters and analyze their personalities, choices, words, actions and ethics to determine which of them is the most ethical one in the entire series:Eddard StarkWhile Ned is an honorable, kind, loving, just and well-intentioned family man, there are just too many unethical things he has done over the years (despite the fact he always meant to do good): lying to Jon Snow, Catelyn and everybody about Jon’s identity for years and pretending he impregnated a stranger in order to save his life- which to be honest is a brave act sacrificing his own honor and relationships, but objectively unethical; never standing up to Tywin or the Mountain after what they have done to poor Elia Martell and her children; leaving most of his family behind in Winterfell and taking his two daughters along to King’s Landing; choosing to stirr the currently peaceful kingdom in order to denounce an unlawful king instead of quietly let it go, causing the death of many innocent lives including his family and himself; agreeing to Littlefinger’s suggestion to bribe armed men for his cause which only backfired since Petyr Baelish is the last person you should ever trust. For nearly all of his actions Ned had very good reasons and justifications, yet there is no use denying he has done a lot of wrong things in the long run. In his final moments though, he chose love and family over his honor, when he confessed treason even though he wasn’t guilty; he may have not saved his own life, but he did better Sansa’s chances. I’m surprised myself at the fact that the lord of Winterfell, warden of the North, will not make it to the top 5.Jaime LannisterSomewhat surprisingly, Jaime has gone from being the man without honor to being a complex character who tirelessly attempts being ethical and good despite the world hating his guts and deeming him a villain. He always had a moral, positive and well-intentioned backbone; but over the years Cersei’s poisoned love and society’s treatment of him has buried this side of him. During his entire life he was the only family member among the Lannisters to not only not hate Tyrion but love him for who he is (up until he kills their father), which already speaks volumes on his better nature. The thing that defines his entire life as a kingslayer, an oathbreaker and a dishonorable man is actually his most heroic action: stopping the Mad King Aerys from burning all King’s Landing by killing him although he is his kingsguard. When it really counted, Jaime chose to save lives instead of doing his duty. However Jaime has definitely done some disturbing actions, among them attacking and wounding a king’s hand (Ned) and of course pushing Bran in order to kill him, causing a small child into a coma and crippling him for life. It makes little difference that Jaime only attacked Ned because his wife Catelyn took his brother Tyrion captive. And the fact he has pushed Bran because he witnessed him and Cersei red-handed in the act so that would risk their children’s life is no excuse and certainly does not justify it- and the fact he does not express regret over it and does nothing to make up for it makes it even worse. All in all, Jaime indeed tries to be a good man, but cannot be considered ethical despite his attempts to be.Maester LuwinA great man with a perfect sense of right and wrong who was caught in a very complicated and challenging situation and nevertheless always remained true to himself and his morals. He was sworn to comply with the Lord of Winterfell, so when Theon betrayed the Starks and took over he had a difficult dilemma; not only did he stay true both to the Starks and his duty, he even did his very best to try and reason with Theon and attempted to save his own soul and not just Bran, Rickon and the others at Winterfell. He died bravely without ever making an immoral, dishonorable or unethical decision.Bran StarkI’m not gonna lie, Bran is one of my favorites, and in my opinion the secret protagonist of the series; that said, he is no perfect character. Bran was raised to be a just, righteous and noble high-born lord, and dreamt of knighthood and to be a hero. His dreams of adventures and battling for the greater good were robbed of him, along with the ability to walk and move freely, when Jaime pushed him off the tower. So the little boy was put in a tough place. Then all his family except his baby brother Rickon left him behind to be the prince of Winterfell and suddenly a shitload of responsibility fell in his lap. He did pretty nice job ruling Winterfell for a very young kid. One of the best parts I loved about Bran was when the young Walders Frey made fun of Hodor and he stood up for him; he defends the weak, even though he is weak himself, physically and mentally. But then we dive into the greyer areas of his morality, when we dig into his greensight and warging abilities, and specifically, whenever he warged Hodor. There is no question as to whether it was necessary to warg Hodor and Summer- it was a must, without it there would be no Hodor and Bran wouldn’t have survived, which would cause Jon Snow’s death when Orell attacked him (because it was Summer warged by Bran who saved him) and in the long run, probably everyones death. But warging is still basically violating a creature’s mind and body, forcing somone’s hand. Let’s call it what it is: brainrape. Hodor might want to help Bran and even at the cost of his life, but he probably would prefer to choose doing it; and in his case, his entire mentality and whole life was shaped around it, and I believe he could still have served Bran faithfully had he not been warged and suffered that seizure as a child. So Bran is a decent boy but he probably doesn’t fully realize the psychologically traumatic effects of his warging (I’d argue witnessing young Wylis seizure and Hodor’s death has started this process, by the way)- so not the most ethical character.VarysJust to be clear, Varys could scarcely be considered an ethical person. He schemes, sneaks around, spies on people, whispers rumors and secrets, and basically daily chooses a course of action that is the opposite of ethical. I’ll never forgive him for being able to save Ned and not doing so. But his motivations are actually not egoistic, but morally strong ones: he is doing whatever he can to serve the people, the realm, and the greater good (or so he says, or so he thinks he does), unlike Littlefinger who is self-serving at the end of the day. I still don’t think the Spider is a character we can trust, and I suspect he might have his own agenda after all (especially if he’s a Blackfyre)- but for all we know as of now, he perform actions to change the world for the better.Jojen & Meera ReedUnlike most characters in A Song of Ice & Fire and Game of Thrones, there is hardly anything grey about the Reed broher and sister- they are one of the few entirely pure characters. They come to Winterfell to help Bran find his destiny, and from the beginning they are loyal, honest and brave. Meera is extremely ethical to extreme measures: when (in the show) Jojen dies she destroys her own brother’s body to make sure he doesn’t end up a wight. The only fault that could be held against any of them is Meera’s involvement in what happened to Hodor, and honestly she had to do what she did and nobody but Hodor could have hold that gigantic heavy door against the White Walkers. Overall they are among the most ethical characters.Arthur DayneWe hardly know much about Ser Arthur Dayne, kingsguard to Rhaegar Targaryan, but from the little we do know, he wasn’t only an amazing sword fighter, but also a noble and brave man who defended his king, prince, and a pregnant woman and her baby, knowing he will probably die in the process.Brienne of TarthBrienne’s character is basically defined by her ethics, her morals and her honor (as well as her bravery, her fierce and her stubborness). Her entire essence and journey in the story is a morally-driven oath to bring the Stark girls home to safety. She is faithful, loyal and noble, and treats people with respect, no matter what. The only time she diverted from ethics is when she went to kill Stannis and in doing so misses Sansa’s candle. I would say she is a great contender for the role of most ethical character.Daenerys TargaryanDany is a special case, because in her storylines she has been to the both opposite edges of ethics: she has done several very ethical actions, but on the other hand, some definitely unethical choices as well. She did do a lot of good, starting with saving some women from further rape by the Dothraki (which unfortunately for her caused Mirri Maz Dur to cause the deaths of Khal Drogo and their baby, but also the birth of her dragons Rhaegal, Viserion and Drogon), and of course the freeing of many slaves across Essos. But she also made a deal to buy the Unsullied and freaking murdered the sellers and took everything she was supposed to give, and also her mere willingness to take that army who murdered dogs and babies in front of their mothers for training is a serious hypocritical issue. She also sentenced one of her councelors to death without trial (ironically, for the crime of murdering a Son of the Harpy without trial). And then there’s her none existent frowning upon Drogo and the Dothraki’s rapey and violent customs (even though she herself was raped!)- and it’s even more paradoxical when she asks Yara that the Greyjoys stop pillaging and raping. So, she is no saint, however ethical she believes herself to be.Robb StarkSo many people hold the one obvious negative act that sealed Robb’s fate, that tend to become completely oblivious to any of his positive traits, including his bravery, strategic skills, ambition, leadership, devotion to his house and people, and also, more to our point- a high sense of ethics and morality. I’m tired of so much people seeing him as an idiot! When two innocent captive Lannister children were murdered in cold blood by Rickard Karstark, Robb couldn’t condone this cruelty and insubordination, and put ethics and the law above his need in the Karstark’s support. Also, in the books, his marriage to Jeyne Westerling wasn’t just a love story but he also couldn’t leave her with a bastard boy and so he married her, while breaking the vow of marriage he swore to Walder Frey; this choice was difficult and haunted him to his brutal death. Of course he’s not one of the top five ethical characters, but people need to give him a break and realized what a stand-up, decent and great guy he was.Syrio ForrelIt should be very easy to discuss the late Mr. Forrel, since there’s zero chance of anybody even debating his ethics: he was the best “dancing” teacher Arya or anyone could ever have, and a brave man who understood very well what would happen if he chose to face Meryn F***ing Trant and his men alone with nothing but a wooden stick, and still made the right choice, with his concience and heart, to sacrifice his life to grant his student a shot of survival. He is the first in a series of people who sacrifice themselves for Arya.Jorah MormontThe Andal is an example of a character with the capability of being very morally righteous, who has made several very unethical decisions but is contantly making up for it and generally making a great effort to recover his honor and dignity. He was a slave trader, which shamed his father Jeor and the Mormont house, and he was exiled for it by no other than Completely Headless Dead Ned Stark; this is especially interesting and ironic because not only does Jorah help Daenerys abolish slavery, but ia later sold as a slave himself. Also there is the unpleasant matter of him being a spy for the Lannisters, passing information to Varys about Dany, until he decides to wise up / fell in love with her (your pick). He also never confessed which was another mistake, and naturally got exposed eventually. But despite- and maybe in light of all that- he tirelessly attempts to make amends and win back Dany’s trust and respect. To be honest, although he made so many unethical deeds, he is still somehow a highly ethical character.Rhaegar TargaryanFor a character who was dead before the plot began and so we only hear about him in retrospect from other characters- we actually know quite a lot about him, enough to build ourselves an image of his personality. We know from Barristan (who I whole-heartedly count as a reliable source) that he used to play music, was gentle, kind and noble. From other biased and uninformed characters we hear he kidnapped and raped Ned’s sister, Lyanna Stark, but this is certainly looking much more likely that they in fact fell in love, had an affair, had a baby and ran away together, perhaps even marry one another. Rhaegar already had a wife, Elia Martell, and two children from her, the female Visenya and the male Aegon (who was supposed to be the next heir to the Iron Throne after Rhaegar). Rhaegar stole Robert’s intended wife and cheated on his own wife probably, unless it was an open marriage which I don’t know if it’s common in House Targaryan and in Westeros in general. However his final actions, giving his kingsguards solely to protect Lyanna and her baby (who we now know for sure is Jon Snow), instead of charching into the battle with Robert Baratheon with protectors for himself, was a selfless and admirable act. In the end, the Mountain murdered Aegon and Visenia, raped Elia and killed her, Lyanna died at birth, Rhaegar himself fought bravely and lost to Robert Baratheon who killed him, and only Jon Snow survived. You could argue, like father like son. So Rhaegar is somewhere in the grey area.Tyrion LannisterTyrion is a character I originally pictured as a shameless, cheeky and carefree dwarf who will say and do whatever the hell he likes to with no regard to anybody else’s opinion of it. I genuinely thought he would become the main antagonist, and never would have imagined him being one of the main protagonists. Tyrion has a very clear understanding of right and wrong, of morality, honor, ethics, humanism, politics and more subjects, so unlike some characters who could get off with the excuse of “they didn’t know any better”, whenever he makes an immoral or unethical act he knows better. On the one hand, he advices Jon Snow, he gives Bran a special gift, he saves Sansa from humiliation and later is very delicate and thoughtful during their marriage, he basically saved King’s Landing in the Blackwater Battle and has does several more of those kind of actions; on the other hand, he whores around, often unknowingly objectify women, threaten to hurt and rape not one but two of his nephews at the heat of the moment (an empty threat but nevertheless an inexcusable thing to say), and eventually murders the woman he loves and his father (for good reasons but still, in my book, murder is murder). While nobody can claim he is 100% ethical, his demeanor and better side is pretty impressive, despite many unethical deeds.Jon SnowSome would argue Jon Snow is the very essence of honor, nobility, heroism, ethics and morality. Like his half-brothers, he grew up at Winterfell, raised by Ned and absorbed many of the values of House Stark. His status as a bastard and the ice-cold silent treatment he recieved from his stepmother Catelyn his entire life didn’t break him, only toughen him up. Jon chooses to leave Winterfell and join the Night’s Watch, and his journey begins. He struggles to find a place, and eventually makes some friends, most notably Samwell Tarly, and takes the vow which binds him to the Night’s Watch forever, making him swear to marry no women and father no child and protect the realms of men til death. When he hears of Ned’s death he is devastated and tries to sneak away from the Wall to return to his family when his friends find him and convinces him to go back. He makes a decision not to help Gily escape with her baby boy despite Sam’s plea, and then witnesses the sacrifice of Craster’s male sons to the Others. When in need of inside information about the wildlings, Qhorin Halfhand commands Jon to infiltrate them and act as one of them. In order to successfully fool them, he has to kill Qhorin, feed them information, join their efforts and begin an affair with Ygritte, a redhead female wildling. He finds himself understanding and sympathise with the wildlings, respecting Mance Rayder, befriend Tormund “Giantsbane” and fall in love with Ygritte- but nevertheless stays loyal to the Night’s Watch at heart. After turning his back on the wildlings and barely live to tell of it, he utimately returns to Castle Black, where he confesses how he forsake his vows and warns his brothers of the wildling forces. In the Battle for Castle Black, Jon is reunited with Ygritte just to watch her die. Jon then goes to speak (or kill) Mance, but Stannis interrupts their meeting. He is tempted by Stannis to become the Lord of Winterfell and get rid of his bastard status to become a Stark in name, but instead he takes the position of Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, to Sam’s delight but many people’s dismay. After allowing safe passage and aspiring for peace with the wildlings in order to team up with the White Walkers, he manages to gain the loathing of the people and get killed. Following his ressurection he is finally free from the vows he took for the Night’s Watch, reunites with Sansa, and finally go to take back his home from the Boltons who conquered it. Among all these actions there are several unethical ones, but for every unethical act Jon has done 10 great things and he always had his reasons. I actually agree, he is pretty ethical, and definitely going to make the top 5.Mance RayderHe has been given the reputation of the greatest traitor and oathbreaker in the Night’s Watch, so there is an expectation building him up to be a major villain. In reality he is not really bad at all, and Jon realizes he (and others) among the wildlings are actually just people and not monsters. Sure, there are some of them who rape and pillage, but overall they’re trying to survive, live in total freedom and take back the lands they claim were stolen from them. It’s easier to understand if you look at the wildlings as an analogy of the Palestinians, the Westerosi as Israel, and the Night’s Watch as the Israeli Defence Force- with Jon being like an Israeli soldier who gets to experience the reality on the other side and reevaluate his world view. Mance eventually earns Jon’s respect and is considered by him to be a very honorable man, despite him being a threat and a foe to him and the Night’s Watch. When Stannis demands the wildling men as soldiers and Mance to bend the knee, he passionately refuses- and loses his life for it. He might be shady, but in his own set of ethics, he’s pretty neat.Jeor MormontIn his mind, Jeor Mormont has been always doing everything for the greater good of the Night’s Watch, society and the realm. He was a good mentor to Jon. There’s been a lot reasons to consider him an ethical person, but ultimately him turning a blind eye to the monstrous injustice going under Craster’s roof (whatever reasoning he gives for it) ruins his very high standart.Davos SeaworthDavos is an awesome character- loyal, wise, patient, righteous, honest, straightforward, kind and for our purpose here, religiously ethical. Yes, he used to be a smuggler, and yes, he didn’t prevent Renly’s and Cortney Penrose’s deaths by Stannis and Melisandre’s shadow babies, but except for that he has been flawlessly honorable and has a very strict moral backbone. He sees the cult of light for what it is, brainwashing and fanaticism, and isn’t afraid to speak his mind freely against it. He openly opposes Melisandre and recognizes her wickedness from the very beginning. He is a great advisor, wasted on a stubborn, hopeless king who is destined to destroy everything he has including his family and humanity (Stannis), that doesn’t listen to him. Davos had a paternal close bond with princess Shireen and would’ve made an excellent guardian had she lived after Stannis’ death. And let’s not forget his actions after he joined Jon’s cause. Davos might make my top 5 ethical characters, to be honest.Stannis BaratheonDoing everything, sacrificing everything and forsaking everything all in the name of justice might technically be considered as the highest and most radical ethics. But this man cheats on his wife with a witch, orders his brother’s death, allow the burning of countless innocent allies of his, condescends everybody and lastly, is involved in burning his own young daughter at the stake while he and his wife watch and do nothing. He eventually loses everything, as serves him right- more than half his men abandon him after Shireen’s execution, Melisandre escapes, his wife Selyse hangs herself to death, then he loses the battle to the Boltons and dies at the hand of Brienne. Sometimes when you make your entire life decisions based on nothing but laws, the book, religion etc, you don’t see the compassionate and moral answer right in front of you- and pay for it. His version of justice is twisted and dangerous. Stannis is a sort of anti-hero, and his ethics are extremely questionable.Podrick PaynePod is a sweetheart. He serves Tyrion loyally and saves his life, then accompany Brienne and squire for her. There isn’t much to be said here, just that he’s a pretty good guy with good ethics.YorenI guess people had completely forgot about Yoren. To jog your memory, Yoren is a brother of the Night’s Watch, who keeps Arya from witnessing her father’s decapitation and takes her out of King’s Landing in attempt to get her to Jon the Wall. He ultimately dies bravely fighting Lannister forces before Arya’s time in Harrenhal. Another good contender.Catelyn StarkCatelyn is an example of a flawed, imperfect, desperate person who makes a lot of mistakes and damage her own dignity: capturing Tyrion that propelled the war between the Starks and the Lannisters to new heights, freeing kingslayer Jaime Lannisterin in hope to get her girs back which caused the Karstark strife- though both actions were grounded in sound reasons. Regarding her treatment of Jon Snow, as unappealing as it is, it doesn’t show us bad ethics; as far as Catelyn knows this is the product of her honorable husband shaming her and himself and a reminder she has been cheated. Her less wise and calculated actions are all done in the name of her family, her duty and her idea of right and wrong. She begins the story a peaceful woman, even going as far as craving peace and rejecting the notion of war after the love of her life was beheaded and while both her daughters were captives in King’s Landing. Following the traumatic and dramatic infamous Red Wedding, Catelyn is ressurected (in the books) in a kiss of death by Beric Dondarion but awakens sort of a monster, a shadow of herself, and seeks vengeance on the Freys, the Lannisters, and all who perpetrated the Red Wedding, under the nickname Lady Stoneheart; this tranformation turns her into a cold vindictive hateful and spitefull figure, a total opposite image of herself, and she even execute innocents. Her ethics are questionable in her first life and even more troubling in her second life, however it is important to remember that she has a very clear code of conduct regarding her values and though she has broke her own rules from time to time, she is still an example of said values.Tywin LannisterSeemingly Tywin is an immoral, stuck-up, terrible person. He certainly does heineous acts of evil and violence, directly and indirectly. He ordered the sack of King’s Landing and the murder and rape of Elia Martell and her children by the Mountain, he made the rebellious House Reyne extinct, he condones unthinkably awful cruel torture in Harrenhal, he butchers and skins animals, he orders the gang-rape of his own son’s first wife Tysha, he passionately hates one of his sons Tyrion, while oblivious and blind to the incestous toxic relationship of his twins Cersei and Jaime and the sadism and incompetence of his grandkid whose a young king Joffrey, and most notably conspired with Walder Frey to set in motion the Red Wedding. On the surface he is a vile, rotten SOB. But then when you think about it, he acts with certain strict values: honor, family, and the best for the realm on his mind (or so he claims). He suggests that killing a few people in a closes hall at a wedding celebration is justified because it saves hundreds of lives in battle. When you look at his actions in this light, as inhumane and disgusting he is, you see he does behave in what he perceives as an ethical behaviour. He actually believes he’s doing the right thing all the time.The HoundSandor Clegane is another fascinating complex grey character. He is inroduced as a sort of mini-villain when he kills Arya’s friend the Butcher’s Boy in the first book, and is presented as a frightening, facially disfigured, strong and rude bodyguard to the king, who intimidate Sansa constantly. We get the sense there’s more to him, and well enough he reveala the sad childhood memory of having half your face burned in a fireplace by your own brother for stealing his toy. He eventually performs noble acts and get close to both of the Stark girls, rescuing Sansa from being gangraped by a mob in King’s Landing and offering her to leave the city with him when he quits at the Battle of the Blackwater, and protecting Arya from the Red Wedding and afterwards. His entire life he has made many questionable acts, but during the story itself he has made steps towards redemption and several highly moral choices, ethical to a certain degree.Lyanna MormontFor a ten year old, Lyanna has a very great presence, understanding of morality, right and wrong, and ethics. Her speech in the scene in the Season 6 finale when she scolds people for swearing fealty to Winterfell and refusing the call is one of the most inspiring, badass and highly ethical moments in the entire story. She is a natural born leader and she has a great future. She’d also make a pretty amazing queen if that were possible.The High SparrowAs seemingly evil as he seems, the High Sparrow feels a bit like a mystery. He claims to be humble, want to destablize the current corrupt rich regime, and to act on his calling in the name of the Seven. In reality he condones humiliation, cruel punishment and psychological torture and brainwash to those he deem unholy. And he seems to be power hungry, though he’s not after the throne itself. He thinks of himself as ethical and perhaps it technically counts, but it feels wrong.Samwell TarlySam is certainly one of the more kindhearted, righteous, gentle and ethical men in Westeros. He is a self-proclaimed coward and his willingness to admit so is special in my opinion. Though he is whiny in the beginning of the story, Jon recognizes his good heart and befriends him. Sam has been shamed by his father Randyl his entire life for his cowardice and ultimately was sent to the Wall to be among thieves, rapists and murderers. He takes great interest in history and literature and becomes a personal assistent to blind old smart Maester Aemon. When coming across the injustice Craster is doing, he (unlike all the rest of the Night’s Watch, including Lord Commander Mormont and even his friend Jon) decides to risk his life to save Gily’s maleborn son from being sacrificed to the others by helping them escape. He overcomes his fears and acts bravely, killing a Walker with a dragonglass dagger, all to defend Gily and her baby. When he gets to Castle Black he knows the Watch will frown upon him bringing a wildling but secures her a place there regardless. He falls in love with her, but acts gently and does not make a move in what could only be described as a noble demeanor. At the Battle for Castle Black he plays a crucial part although he doesn’t do much fighting. He saves Gily from being attacked and raped by two men from the Night’s Watch even though he gets injured in the process and is saved by Ghost. In the election for a new lord commander, he rises up and makes a passionate case for considering Jon as their leader, and it actually works. He eventually leaves Castle Black with Gily and little Sam to become a maester in Oldtown, and along the way visits his family where his father gives him a hard time so he takes his sword and leaves. The only unethical act he ever did was breaking his oath, and I hardly hold that against him. I believe he has a larger role to play in the ensgame, and to me, he is one of the bravest and kindest heroes. Could he be the number one ethical character???HodorWylis, AKA Hodor, will be the last character I will discuss. While almost all the other characters I spoke of were grey, had made misteps from time to time, or simply weren’t present in the story enough to determine that they were completely ethical people (such as Syrio or Yoren), our beloved Hodor is the only longtime character who has never ever made one unethical action during the entire plot, rigut up to his tragic death. He is a mentally-challenged, gigantic, physically strong, silly, funny, kind, loyal and charming guy, who mysteriously can only speak one word and one word only, the seemingly meaningless nonsical word Hodor, and is like a guardian angel to our crippled protagonist Bran Stark (even physically carrying him around). Although many considered his character a joke, George R. R. Martin had something completely different in mind for his character when all is said and done. To me, Hodor has always been a favorite, and his curious special behavior always held me captivated and looking forward to find out what was behind the word and the man. In the shocking reveal in the finale scene of Season 6, Episode 5, “The Door”, the origin of Hodor’s condition is finally disclosed in his dying moments: as White Walkers chase down Bran, Meera, Summer, Leaf and the rest of the children of the forest, and of course Hodor, when Bran and Meera escape the cave, somebody has to put his weight on the door from outside to prevent the Walkers from going after Bran who has been marked; and so Meera yells at Hodor to “hold the door” and later Bran wargs into young Wylis in a vision in the past, causing him to have a seizure muttering the phrase “hold the door!” repeatedly until it gradually becomes the word “hodor”. So the sad truth is, Hodor became what he is because of the same boy he spends his life to defend, and he spent most of his life contantly referencing and foreshadowing his eventual death. It is one of the most brilliant and unexpected twists in the entire series, and personally the most tragic death ever. Hodor was never a major character, never had too much dialogue, was never involved in the game of thrones, and hasn’t been given a complex character-development arc, but somehow his death shatters me every single time I witness it. In my opinion Kristian Nairn not only captured the naiveity and charm of book-Hodor perfectly, but added hidden depth of personal pain to the role; he put different kinds of feelings each “Hodor” and delievered raw emotion in his final act of sacrifice. Some may argue the validity of his heroism, pinning it as him being mindcontrolled by Bran’s greenseering and warging abilities, implying he had no say in the matter and was plainly forced and pushed to his limit. But I think although he didn’t ask for any of this, and had nothing to do when he fell and had the seizure, and definitely when warged by Bran not really himself- I genuinely believe Hodor knew what happened to him, knew his fate was to protect Bran despite how he would mentally abuse him, and chose to put his own suffering and his entire way of life aside in order to help carry Bran’s heavy weight- mentally and literally!- to help him fulfill his destiny, no matter what. Young Wylis most certainly did not have a choice not to comply to Bran’s powers, but grown up Hodor held that door willingly and on purpose (as well as the entire length of the journey and his time with Bran, excluding whenever he is warged into), not because Meera asked but because he knew it was what he needed to do; notice his eyes are white and he is warged in the past which turns him into Hodor but in his dying moments his eyes are natural and he is very much in awareness, which is a further proof and indication that he was not only on board but knowingly made that choice. . He had one job, and he did it. While Eddard Stark was a hero who died a fool, Hodor is the exact opposite- a fool who died a hero.Out of all these characters, I feel like several of them weren’t explored enough to challenge their seemingly perfect ethics, and so I can’t really claim they are the most ethical: Jojen, Meera, Arthur Dayne, Luwin, Syrio, Pod, Lyanna and Yoren.So I think my top 5 would be:5) Davos4) Brienne3) Sam2) Jon1) HodorDid I miss any important character?What do you think?Do you agree?To end the discussion, here’s a pretty fitting Jaime quote from “A Clash of Kings”, A Song of Ice & Fire / Season 2, Game of Thrones: “So many vows… they make you swear and swear. Defend the king. Obey the king. Keep his secrets. Do his bidding. Your life for his. But obey your father. Love your sister. Protect the innocent. Defend the weak. Respect the Gods. Obey the laws. It’s too much. No matter what you do, you’re forsaking one vow or the other.”

It's hard to define outright evil, and certainly different people will have different opinions on what makes a character evil. One of the best things about A Song of Ice and Fire is how deep every character seems to be. Some might even say the book is devoid of true good and evil, and often characters initially appearing as the epitome of evil are later shown to be something entirely different (Jamie Lannister is a good example).Spoilers follow (through A Dance with Dragons) out of necessity, since what makes a character good or evil can't really be discussed without knowing what they did.The descriptions of Ramsay Bolton's behavior in A Dance with Dragons were quite notable for me in that they were almost unreadable to a point. Not only would I call him the most evil character, I'd call him the only character that seems to lack a single redeeming quality. Unlike his father, he lacks any political cunning (though Roose is certainly evil) and seems motivated by the pain he causes more than anything else.Ramsay kidnaps, tortures, then releases (naked) and hunts down young women as sport. He flays the skin off prisoner's fingers until it hurts so bad they beg him to just cut off the fingers (Reek's internal monologue reveals that Ramsay considers a prisoner biting their own fingers off to be a horrid slight against him). How he treats Reek, Jayne, and the few other characters we see him interact with out of the sight of the powerful northerners is enough to make anyone's blood boil. I think there's no question of his cruelty, which distinguishes him from everyone else in a spectacular manner--whereas we can debate whether or not Tywin, for instance, is an evil man, Ramsay leaves no room for positive judgement.Here's the other characters that are clearly over the moral grey line, and why I don't think they're purely evil like Ramsay:Roose Bolton is sadistic and lacks true loyalty to anyone but himself. Despite that, his most evil action, betraying Robb at the Red Wedding, is something done for political gain and not just sadism. There's a motive to his evil, while Ramsay seems to lack any (burning Winterfell and such gained nothing for the Boltons, and actually cost them a small bit).Gregor Clegane would have been my pick for the most evil character pre-ADWD. He also lacks a motive for many of his most evil actions (while Tywin did tell him to murder Elia and her family, the sheer cruelty of how he did it, killing her infant children and then raping her before murdering her, wasn't part of those orders). He may be Tywin's dog to an extent, but he's far from fully obedient, and certainly enjoys the crueler aspects of war. He's separated only from Ramsay in the extent of his cruelty, but that's more than enough to push Ramsay ahead of him.Joffrey Baratheon is the clear antagonist in the War of the Five Kings. His mental torture of Sansa is possibly far worse than any physical torture he could have imparted, and he doesn't spare her that either--but he has his Kingsguard do it, so that he doesn't even earn the slight character boost of being brave enough to carry out his own cruelty. He's a coward, ultimately, and an asshole. I think a large part of this comes from having been given absolute power without having ever learned anything about using it. His "father," Robert, was an awful king; knowing this, Joffrey is motivated to clearly establish that he doesn't possess any of the "weak" traits his father did. His mother, Cersei, wants to use him to ensure the power of herself and the Lannisters, and so the lessons she imparts on him hardly help once he realizes the extent of his power. Joffrey isn't a good person, but I think it's heavily a product of his environment.Petyr Baelish (Littlefinger) isn't a torturer or a sadist, unlike everyone else mentioned up until now. Instead he's a manipulative politician, insistent on increasing his own power over scorn for the love he's lost. He winds up in powerful places by making it seem that he's the only person who can do the job that needs doing, and he has started an entire civil war and caused countless thousands of deaths for his own gain. He controls the Vale, whose armies conveniently (likely at his own urging to Lysa) have stayed out of the War of the Five Kings. He's not a good person, but I think he's ultimately more selfish than evil--he gets what he wants, no matter the cost, but won't do things just for the sake of cruelty.Varys seems at first glance to be the more subservient of the two heavy subterfuge players in Kings Landing (the other being Littlefinger). He claims to Eddard that he only serves the realm, but he proves this wrong at the end of A Dance With Dragons, even going so far as to outright state that Kevan was one of the better rulers they'd had in a long time, but just wasn't on the right side. He kills Kevan because Kevan would have fixed the feud Cersei started between the Lannisters and the Tyrells, which would hurt Varys's plan to have the Targaryens retake the throne.Cersei Lannister has trust issues and power desires which drive most of her more evil actions, such as causing the imprisonment of Margery. She's driven by a desire to be like Tywin, which causes her to make several rash decisions in an effort to secure her power. While this is successful for her for a time, she becomes too brazen and never considers how easily her plans to remove Margery and the Tyrells can backfire. She makes a lot of mistakes and is clearly power hungry, but I don't think she's evil.Aerys II Targaryen (The Mad King) is only heard of and never actually seen in the books, having died more than a decade before they begin, yet his actions seem to clearly justify Robert's Rebellion. Like Cersei, he succumbed to extreme paranoia after the Defiance of Duskendale and wound up violently murdering Rickard and Brandon Stark after Rhaegar had kidnapped Lyanna Stark. The entire time, Aerys could be argued to have been acting in the interest of protecting himself, though the argument he considered himself to be protecting the realm as well probably falls apart when he began conspiring to burn King's Landing to the ground as it became clear the war was lost. I think there's definitely a grey area for discussing Aerys's motives, though he was an awful ruler owing to his paranoia.There are certainly others, but I think that these touch on the main characters who fall under the umbrella. We know much too little about Polliver or the Tickler or most of the historical kings to genuinely judge them, I think.

What we think(wish) may differ entirely from what GRRM has in mind. Still I will list out my holy seven who I believe(wish) will survive the series.  Sansa Stark -  Even with her lackluster wits she survived King's landing. If she were to be killed off she would have been dead already. Her character started off as a stupid little girl and has grown to be a (less stupid) flowered woman. I believe her character cycle can only be completed if she stays alive the whole series. I can totally imagine her killing Littlefinger Barristan Selmy - There are old Knights and there are bold Knights. Then there is Barristan Selmy. Ser Barristan is one of a kind in the entire series. He is completely an odd man out. Martin would probably keep him alive to show that even the little pieces may survive the game of thrones if they are honest,sincere and genuine . The world GRRM created is after-all not that dark.Tyrion Lannister - Here is a guy loved by none. He is a dwarf, who nearly died in the battles of Greenfork and Blackwater and was nearly hanged by Cersei and nearly drowned in Rhoyne That's four near deaths. So he qualifies Jon Snow - Supposedly Ahai Reborn and  and allegedly Son of Rhaeger and Lyanna. He is the sword in the darkness. He is the watcher of the walls.He is the fire that burns against the cold. He is the light that brings the dawn. He is the horn that wakes the sleepers. He is the shield that guards the realms of menHe simply cannot dieDaenerys Targaryen - Mother of the dragons, the real lead of the series. Again simply cannot dieBenjen Stark- Has disappeared only to reappear Arya Stark-  because I do not want her to die

Well first of all, it’s expected that you look like your parents, or ancestors. If not, that might just be a problem, which A Game of Thrones exemplifies as the appearances of Robert’s children compared to Cersei and Jaime’s reveal their incestuous relationship. Second of all, those kinds of similarities are important to the theme of legacy that A Song of Ice and Fire carries with it. Sansa carries after Catelyn, and we can see that in the way she approaches courtesies and politics. Arya, the only Stark child with dark hair, is just like Lyanna, a beautiful wild she-wolf. Dany feels obligated to go for the Iron Throne, because she’s part of a family that’s ruled all Seven Kingdoms of Westeros for almost three hundred years. Furthermore, Aegon VI Targaryen in fact does not resemble Rhaegar. Jon Connington himself even notes this, as he reflects on a meeting he had with Rhaegar at Griffin’s Roost, noting that Rhaegar’s eyes were darker than Aegon’s. Along with the sign at the inn, that’s indicative that Aegon is not the perfect secret prince Varys wants us to think he is. So, it’s not really weird that characters resemble their previous generations. Not only is that genetic, but thematic, and those similar appearances serve the plot excellently. The best example of that is probably creeper Petyr wanting Sansa because of his childhood love for Catelyn.